Lawn is Yellow when cut, why?

Headshrinker99

Hi everyone,

Hoping to get some expert advice please. 

I have a lawn thats about 18 months old, grown from seed. 

The grass looks lovely and green when its long, but when I cut it it looks yellow/brown horrible. I'm hoping for a low cut green surface. There are next to no weeds in it and I've fertilised regularly. 

Can anybody offer me a reason why and a way of improving it please?  

Photos atrached mid cut for info.

Thank you,

Paul

glasgowdan

A lawn cut short needs a bit of fertiliser input to keep it green and thick. The best thing for you just now would be raise the cut height, give it an iron treatment (usually included in autumn fertilisers) and get it aerated if you can. The root zone will not be established well enough yet, and aeration will help improve that

Fairygirl

I'd have thought you need a specific type of seed if you want a lawn kept at a very short height too. Perhaps @glasgowdan  could clarify?
It also looks like a pretty shady site, which brings it's own problems.

Lyn

Only reason is because it’s cut too short, the left half is about right. If you cut it that short next summer it will die. 
Hopefully you’ll have lots of rain and it will pick up.
grass doesn’t need fertilising regularly, Spring is the ideal time,  you may have over fertilised and making it grow weak. 

glasgowdan

Lyn said:

Only reason is because it’s cut too short, the left half is about right. If you cut it that short next summer it will die. 
Hopefully you’ll have lots of rain and it will pick up.
grass doesn’t need fertilising regularly, Spring is the ideal time,  you may have over fertilised and making it grow weak. 

It won't die, but it won't look great. As I said, you can have a great lawn cut short at 10-20mm but it will require some nutrient inputs through the year. 

I'd also consider getting a mulch mower and use that whenever possible. 

Talking about different seed type probably isn't too useful in this case unless the OP wants to kill and re-seed their entire lawn.

Fairygirl

glasgowdan said:

Talking about different seed type probably isn't too useful in this case unless the OP wants to kill and re-seed their entire lawn.

No - I realise that, but perhaps @Headshrinker99 might consider it if the aim is to have a really cropped finish. 
I'd agree with @Lyn too- the uncut bit is about as short as I ever have mine. 
Shorter length usually means extra work because of the extra feed - I'm too lazy for all that 

There's a garden round the corner from me with a tiny, north facing lawn and it gets cut to within an inch [ or half an inch!] of it's life. It's always green and healthy looking, but it's a very fine looking grass, and really dense. I think the man who lives there spends a lot of time maintaining it. 

Hostafan1

This is one of the very few times when a garden roller is useful. 
After it's been cut, take a roller over it to " induce tillering" which basically means the grass will sprout growth from the very base .
If you get right down, my guess is you'll find your grass has , in effect , a tiny trunk before the foliage sprouts. When you cut it, you're basically removing all the foliage.

Headshrinker99

Fairygirl said:

glasgowdan said:

Talking about different seed type probably isn't too useful in this case unless the OP wants to kill and re-seed their entire lawn.

No - I realise that, but perhaps @Headshrinker99 might consider it if the aim is to have a really cropped finish. 
I'd agree with @Lyn too- the uncut bit is about as short as I ever have mine. 
Shorter length usually means extra work because of the extra feed - I'm too lazy for all that 

There's a garden round the corner from me with a tiny, north facing lawn and it gets cut to within an inch [ or half an inch!] of it's life. It's always green and healthy looking, but it's a very fine looking grass, and really dense. I think the man who lives there spends a lot of time maintaining it. 

Killing it and restarting is definitely not an option for me.  The seed I used was A1 Lawn Premiership Pro, so I'd expect it to be good enough for a short cut.  Am I wrong?

Thank you to everyone who commented.  I think my best solution is to leave it long for now and introduce mulching and rolling into my routine, add an autumn fertiliser in a few weeks and aerate the ground.  Then next spring/summer I'll see if I can get a shorter cut with more maintenance. 

Does that sounds sensible?

Dovefromabove

Can I ask how often you’re mowing the lawn when it’s growing at its fastest?  How long are you letting it get between mowings?

JennyJ

I just googled that seed and apparently it is a mix of 3 types of perennial ryegrass, meant for sports pitches. For a really short lawn you want fine-leaved grasses, usually a mix of bents and fescues (but they won't take hard wear).

Hostafan1

Headshrinker99 said:

Fairygirl said:

glasgowdan said:

Talking about different seed type probably isn't too useful in this case unless the OP wants to kill and re-seed their entire lawn.

No - I realise that, but perhaps @Headshrinker99 might consider it if the aim is to have a really cropped finish. 
I'd agree with @Lyn too- the uncut bit is about as short as I ever have mine. 
Shorter length usually means extra work because of the extra feed - I'm too lazy for all that 

There's a garden round the corner from me with a tiny, north facing lawn and it gets cut to within an inch [ or half an inch!] of it's life. It's always green and healthy looking, but it's a very fine looking grass, and really dense. I think the man who lives there spends a lot of time maintaining it. 

Killing it and restarting is definitely not an option for me.  The seed I used was A1 Lawn Premiership Pro, so I'd expect it to be good enough for a short cut.  Am I wrong?

Thank you to everyone who commented.  I think my best solution is to leave it long for now and introduce mulching and rolling into my routine, add an autumn fertiliser in a few weeks and aerate the ground.  Then next spring/summer I'll see if I can get a shorter cut with more maintenance. 

Does that sounds sensible?

it needs rolling, or just more foot traffic. Leaving it isn't going solve anything. 
Your garden , your choice.